Police in Busoga East have launched investigations into the theft of ballot boxes and other election materials from the Electoral Commission (EC) offices in Iganga District.
An Electoral Commission official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that unidentified armed individuals stormed the EC offices on Wednesday evening and ordered the storekeeper to immediately open the premises.
“The storekeeper opened for them and they sped off with an unspecified number of ballot boxes for both the presidential and Kigulu North constituency elections,” the official said.
The official added that police were promptly alerted to begin investigations, noting that the EC had received no prior communication from their superiors regarding any authorised team assigned to collect election materials.
“We had no notification from our supervisors that there was a team coming to pick ballot boxes,” the official said.By press time, officials from the Electoral Commission in the Kiira region had not issued an official statement on the incident.
However, the Busoga East police spokesperson, Michael Kasadha, confirmed that investigations are ongoing to establish what exactly transpired.“We have arrested a number of individuals to support the ongoing investigations, which are still at an initial stage,” Kasadha said.
He added that preliminary inquiries suggest that the armed men, as reported by the complainants, may be attached to the police and are believed to have been accompanied by EC officials during the operation, although he stressed that investigations are still ongoing.
“Conclusive inquiries are underway to ascertain these claims,” Kasadha said.Kasadha noted that the investigation comes at a time when polls are ongoing, with much of the security apparatus deployed to ensure free and fair mayoral elections.
He said, however, that a team of detectives has been specifically assigned to intensify investigations into the alleged theft.
****URN****